FCTA threatens to close motor parks

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it will shut down any motor-park in the FCTA where its officials are attacked while on its sensitization campaign on the mini-bus route operations even as it shifted the commencement of the policy to October 2012.

Secretary, Transport Secretariat, Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, said this when he received members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in his office who visited to seek an extension of the implementation date of the mini-bus route service.

Ivoke, who expressed his displeasure at the behaviour of members of NURTW recently at the Mombassa motor park when they almost disrupted a sensitisation campaign, said that “though administration of Senator Bala Mohammed is a listening one, any licensed operator that attacks FCTA official who is assigned the responsibilities to sensitise the drivers and the public would have their parks closed down.”

Ivoke ,however, advised members of the mini-bus union to join together to migrate to high capacity buses for their operations as the FCT intends to reduce drastically the number of mini-buses operating within the city, adding that the FCTA would facilitate their access to soft loans from the Urban Development Bank (UDB ) and private financiers.

The Secretary also reminded them that the biometric data capturing of every driver operating in the FCT is on course, noting that it is imperative that every bus and taxi driver is captured for the safety and security of both the drivers and the public.

He enjoined the operators to be law abiding and added that the FCTA is not out to deny anybody of his legitimate earning in FCT. He maintained that the Transportation Secretariat must execute its mandate, part of which is the new minibus route policy.

He further stated that when the Bus Mass Transit is fully implemented, the congestion in the city would be drastically reduced.

The Secretary NURTW FCT Chapter, Alh. Umar Abubakar, thanked the Secretary for Transportation for the administration`s response to the plight of the drivers and pledged the members continuous support for the policy of the administration.